Introducing: Miss Harleen Quinzel
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: Ivy makes and intriguing alliance with a future Gotham misfit. Meanwhile, Bruce is out of the country attending to Selina's care. Leaving Gotham in the hands of a potential mad man. Takes place after my stories "Shelter from the Storm", "Girl Trouble" and "Last Kiss".
1. Chapter 1

**Introducing: Miss. Harleen Quinzel**

 **Ivy makes and intriguing alliance with a future Gotham misfit. Meanwhile, Bruce is out of the country attending to Selina's care. Leaving Gotham in the hands of a potential mad man. Takes place after my stories "Shelter from the Storm", "Girl Trouble" and "Last Kiss".**

 **Disclaimer! I don't own Gotham or the Batman characters. I just like to have fun with them.**

 **I realize that my stories might not match up with what has happened or will happen with the Fox show '** ** _Gotham_** **', but only because I'm writing this before knowing the new season and new story lines. I'm not sure if Harley Quinn will be introduced, but if she is, this is how I would do it.**

1.

~ In a rank and depressing neighborhood four blocks away from the nearest stop of any bus or train, Harleen Quinzel climbed up the five flights of stairs to her small, musty apartment.

She tried to fool herself into believing the old building had historical charm, but she knew deep down this was a lie. Just like she knew that she really wasn't as pretty as she liked to believe. Trouble was, she was very good at lying to herself.

She carried a sack of groceries in one hand and some patient files that Doctor Rosenbaum wanted on her desk in the other. The old woman was a tyrant now that she had a helpless unpaid intern to do all her work for her. Harleen wasn't sure who to talk to about the way Doctor Rosenbaum would bully her. She had been bullied all her life and perhaps that's just how someone like her was treated.

She twisted the key to her apartment door and was grateful she was finally home after a long day of running all over the city on Doctor Rosenbaum's personal errands. Her apartment smelled like it had never been properly aired out. The smelled of old things left in the walls to rot perhaps. It was entirely possible the building was never cleared out for the asbestos as well.

Still, it was all she could afford just now. Her job was unpaid and she couldn't take a second job and expect to finish her schooling. She was just a year shy of her doctoral thesis and she couldn't give up now when she could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

She gently placed her patient files on her makeshift kitchen table. Her precious groceries for the week, a bag of rice, bananas, peanut butter, eggs, a loaf of bread, lunch meat and cheese were put away in the tiny kitchen.

Her apartment was small and oddly proportioned, even for Gotham. There was barely enough room for a twin sized bed and hardly any closet space at all. Still, with the storm coming down outside, Harleen had to be grateful. She had case files full of patients who had spent their lives living on the streets. In fact, her most recent one was a former street kid.

Harleen helped herself to a banana opened Ivy's police report.

Ivy had intrigued the young phycology student during her visit to the police station. Where Harleen was awkward and insecure, Ivy looked like she belonged in a magazine or an old timey movie. The girl was confident and sat up perfectly strait. She was ever pretty nice to Harleen during her interview. It was hard to believe she had been one of those dirty street kids that littered the city.

~ "Don't worry." Ivy said with a sympathetic nod. "It will get easier. It's always hard the first few years."

"I thought I recognized you!" Harleen said with a toothy grin. She pushed up her glasses and appreciated Ivy's warm, movie star smile. "Gotham University. You're in the science lab. Working with the weird kid."

"Jonathan?" Ivy asked. "Yes. He's a bit of an oddity isn't he?"

Herleen nodded.

"But then again, aren't we all oddities in this world?" Ivy asked. "Sometimes I feel sorry for the rest of them."

"The rest of who?" Harleen asked. She was enchanted by Ivy. The young woman was everything Harleen wanted to be. Articulate, graceful and poised.

"Those who aren't like us, Harleen." Ivy said. "Those that lack imagination."

"I'm not that imaginative." Harleen laughed and snorted slightly.  
"I bet your boyfriend disagrees." Ivy coached.

Harleen felt her face grow hot and tried not to blush.  
"No one?" Ivy asked in surprise.

"I've been busy with school." Harleen said sadly.

"But I bet there is someone out there." Ivy said knowingly. "I know you think he doesn't notice you, but all men notice girls like us."

"Like us?" Harleen repeated as if under some kind of spell.

"Harleen, I want you to have something of mine." Ivy said soothingly. "It's my lucky red lipstick. I use it all the time. It's in with my personal possessions here in holding. I want you to have it and wear it. Trust me, the men will fall into your arms if you do."

"I can't check out your things from holding." Harleen said in alarm.  
"Harleen," Ivy scolded. "That's not the right attitude. You need to project confidence. You'll never get what you want unless you demand it!"

And with that, Harleen went to the front desk and demanded, in a squeaky voice, that she be given accesses to Ivy Pepper's personal possessions at the time of her arrest.

"Hang on, sister." the sergeant said lazily and continued on with his phone conversation. Harleen waited, feeling more and more awkward before the sergeant returned with a box marked **Pepper** in large black letters. She couldn't believe how easy it was.

"I'll just take them with me. Give them to Doctor Rosenbaum in the morning." Harleen said quickly.

She slid Ivy's things into her school bag and hurried out of the police station. Her heart racing at the feel of her raw power.

~ Now, sitting in her depressing little apartment with the ant problem and the musty oder, she wished she had her new friend to talk to again. Ivy didn't belong in prison. Ivy was like a beautiful flower who might wither away in a place like that.

Harleen looked through her bag for Ivy's belongings and quickly found the most glamours things. A gold compact, an old fashioned beaded coin purse. Ladies handkerchiefs that were made in a vintage style. A tiny bottle of expensive perfume and cards to the most exclusive night clubs int he city.

Finally, she found Ivy's lipstick. It was in a special silver tube that looked like it had come from the jazz age. Back when daring women wore ruby red lips. No one used a thing like this anymore. Such a product went obsolete with the popularity of disposable tubes. No, a silver tube like this was reused when the stick was out. Perhaps Ivy had her lucky lipstick made in France or something like that. She was real classy like that.

With child like delight, Harleen pulled down her hair, pulled off her glasses and looked at herself in the mirror. She could be pretty. No matter what her mother said.

She touched the red lipstick to her naked lips and felt it glide on with ease. After that, the hard world she had always known melted away.

~ Bruce was woken up by the shrill, insistent ring of his cell phone. Since only a handful of people knew this number, he could guess it was Alfred, Vicki or Selina.

He didn't recognize the number that flashed on the caller ID, but saw that it was from here in Switzerland. The number most likely coming from a little clinic an hour's drive from the hotel Bruce was staying in.

He quickly tried to wake himself up. Lately he had almost been keeping normal hours. Sleeping all night and staying awake all day.

"Hello?" he said eagerly into the phone.

He knew it was Selina before she even spoke. There was a long intake of breath before she said his name in a shaky voice.

"Bruce?" she said weakly.

It was time for Bruce to play dumb. He couldn't let on that he knew where she was or what had happened to her. A delicate web of lies coming into play.

"Selina?" he said innocently. "My God, where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." she said quickly. "I've just been… away from Gotham."

"What happened to you?" he asked. He had rehearsed what he would say to her many times before. He knew full well what had happened to her. How Ivy's little booby trap had almost killed her and then caused her abnormal abilities and strange behavior.

"I had to leave town for a while." Selina said weakly. "Did I wake you up? It's evening in Gotham."

Bruce let out a sigh. True, it was early evening in Gotham, but here in Switzerland it was the middle of the night. He had never returned to his home city after dropping Selina off for care. Her state of mind so befuddled after Lucius Fox's treatments, she remembered nothing about coming here. She didn't even know he was involved.

"I had a long day." Bruce lied. "Went to bed early."

"You should take better care of yourself." Selina said helpfully.

Bruce smiled softly.

"Listen, Bruce." she said quickly. "I won't keep you. I just wanted to call and say I'm sorry for… well, however I left things with you. I wasn't in a good place."

"I've already forgotten about it." Bruce said easily. "Where are you? Can I pick you up?"

"No." Selina said quickly. "I'm not sure when I'll be leaving."

Bruce said nothing. He wasn't sure how much Selina wanted to tell him.

"It's nice to hear your voice." he admitted.

He could almost see her smiling that sad little smile of hers.

"It's nice to hear your's to." she told him. "I'll let you go back to sleep."

"Call me." he told her. "Anytime. When you're ready to come home, I'll come."

She told him goodnight and heard the phone click off.

~ Selina had hung up the little phone in her hospital room. She had access to a phone now for several days but Bruce was her only real friend in the world. Bad memories were coming back to her. Bad dreams of Bruce in danger. Of something sinister hunting him down. It was nice of Bruce to offer to bring her back to Gotham. But he didn't know she was halfway across the world.

The prim little doctor who was looking after her told her nothing about how she got here and what was wrong with her. She had no idea who brought her to Switzerland, but she suspected the Batman was involved. She remembered him at least. Remembered how nicely her body fit into his.

Floods of other memories surfaced when she thought about the Batman. Stabbing Gordon in the hand, cutting Ivy, killing a nameless pimp in an ally. Worst of all, hurting her beloved Bruce.

Selina closed her eyes and curled into the covers of her hospital bed. She was safe here, but what would happen if she returned to Gotham?

' _Do I even have a home anymore_?' she thought pitifully.

~ Mayor Aubrey James loved being in charge of Gotham. He had been an elected king of the city for over a decade now and there were certain privileges that came with it. Namely the construction kick backs from his newest project.

"Arkham Island will be fully viable in a few months with this plan." said his lead city planner. "All the costs will be deferred by the federal government once we admit over a thousand inmates."

"And you can guarantee at least a thousand?" Mayor James asked.

A short, angry looking grey haired woman sat up a little straiter.

"I'm working on a list of very viable candidates." Doctor Rosenbaum said in a gravely voice. "We will have to have a maximum security wing of course."

"I don't want another incident like what happened the last time. With the murder of our director and all the electrode stocks to patients. It was bad press for me all over." The Mayor snapped.

"It won't." Doctor Rosenbaum assured him. "I'll be taking over as director and we will have a full security crew."

"What about the labor during the build?" Mayor James asked.

"From Mexico. Brought in by train. We pay them next to nothing and then ship them back. We charge the government for the cost of union labor." the city planner said.

The Mayor seemed unfazed.

"Our great country wouldn't exist without slave labor of some kind." he said.

He scribbled his name on the contract and place the pen back in his great pocket.

"Arkham Asylum will reopen." he said smugly.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ It was raining in Gotham. It was always raining in Gotham, but today the rain didn't seem to bother Harleen as much. The lip stick Ivy had given her had induced some kind of hallucination. At first, she felt euphoric and happy. All things in life were starting to make sense. She was no longer a prisoner to internship, her studies, her student loans or her life. She was free. Everything seemed rosy and beautiful around her. Then there were some things that were so damn… funny. She lived in a rat infested hell hole, worked at a job she hated for no money and was in an alarming amount of debt just to continue to do a job she hated.

The whole thing was laughable.

She had wanted to look at herself int he mirror and mock the stupid girl in it. Wanted to point and laugh at Harleen Quinzel for being such a putz. Instead, she looked in the mirror and saw a pale face looking back at her. Then, the face started laughing at her on it's own.

Harleen had been so frightened by the macabre face, she cowered under the covers for the rest of the night.

When she woke up the next morning, she found her vision was perfectly clear. She didn't need her glasses anymore at all. For a good few minutes, she had toyed with the large pair of glasses she had bought at a discount store and wondered how her eye sight had been fixed overnight.

She didn't have too much time to wonder, however. The tyrant, Doctor Rosenbaum was already calling to pick up coffee on her way to Arkham asylum.

~ Across the river, Arkham Island stood lonely, cold and abandoned. The cab driver didn't even want to take Harleen out there until she waved the corporate card and her Gotham City Mental Health ID at him.

"Get me out there in five minutes, buddy!" she snapped. A characteristic so unlike her, she could hardly believe she had said it. But the tactic worked. The driver turned around and speed the whole way to the bridge that connected Arkham Island to Gotham.

"Where have you been?" Rosenbaum snapped. Harleen had hurried out of the cab carrying hot coffee and an umbrella.

"Sorry, Doctor." Harleen said sheepishly. Doctor Rosenbaum stanched her coffee from the girl and waved for her to follow.

"Did you finish the report of that Pepper girl?" she asked.

"Well, yes. No history of mental illness in Ivy herself. However her mother committed suicide after her father was killed by police. She lived on the streets for a while before she vanished for a few years. Now she's back. A full time student at Gotham University and she's on the dean's list. Wants to study chemistry for cosmetics company's. Dent let her go after the Gotham Prime incident. Said there was a loss in chin of custody. She had no priors." Harleen said.  
"I think with Ivy Pepper's sad childhood, she will need an extensive stay at our new facility for the mentally ill." Rosenbaum said happily.

Harleen wasn't wearing the right kind of shoes to go tracking through the rotting remains of Arkham. The ground was muddy and trees and grass had started to grow wild around the old buildings.

"New facility?" she questioned. "Where?"

"You're looking at it." Rosenbaum said with a grin.  
"Here?" Harleen laughed. "But this place is super creepy."

Doctor Rosenbaum looked annoyed.

"We are rebuilding the Arkham Asylum." she snapped. "You are going to help me find patients to keep her running and well funned. The project won't be funded if there are not enough nut jobs to keep in lock down."

Harleen looked at the imposing brick building. Arkham was massive. Like a stone castle from medieval time. A ghostly back drop to a terrible story to tell at night.  
"People are going to be living here?" she whispered.

"Why not?" Rosenbaum huffed. "Once we make repairs and hire security.  
"What about that thing a few years ago? I head people were lobotomized." Harleen asked. She was hurrying behind he doctor now as they walked through the ghostly court yard. All the windows and doors had been boarded up and the place looked uninviting.

"You'll have to be more specific." snapped Rosenbaum. "Arkham has enjoyed a colorful history. It was built before the civil war as a prison. During the war years, it became a hospital for the union soldiers. After that, it was a TB hospital until the early sixties. Then it became the place Gotham hid all the loonies."

Rosenbaum looked up at the foreboding building with admiration.

"I remember when the Wayne foundation shut this place down for it's ghastly living conditions." she said in remembrance. "Fortunately, the mayor sees things more clearly and more profitably. He has authorized its restoration and it will be used not only to house people with severe mental illness, but juvenile offenders, drug addicts and the general misfits of Gotham."

"How many patients?" Harleen asked.

"Oh, a few thousand." Rosenbaum said with a smile. "Black Gate is overflowing you see. Always has been. We have to make room somewhere. Come along. We have construction crews here already."

Harleen was reluctant to follow the doctor through the creepy front door of Arkham asylum. She felt a sudden cold ripple through her at being inside the structure that so many people must have perished in.

She remembered reading about this horrible place in history class. How as a TB hospital, hundreds had died here and were cremated in the basement. With the popularity of antibiotics to treat TB, there were much fewer patients. Arkham was turned into a mad house for the first time, and it was filled with mentally handicapped people along with the criminally insane. In the early 70's the Wayne foundation had taken the initiative in closing the place down after the appalling conditions were revealed. It was only after the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne that talk of reopening Arkham had even started.

Harleen didn't like to think about all the horrors that had happened here. All the poor people held here against their will. All the abuse and secret trips to the crematorium. Now, thanks to their corrupt mayor, Arkham Asylum was reopening.

~ Selina had been in a fog the past few days. She woke up not knowing where she was most mornings, but she didn't really care. Her world was so peaceful and calm that she shook off her confusion. A few memories haunted her when she slept. Dreams of a man in black. Of an intense desire to hurt people. Of feeling powerful and unstoppable. When she had those dreams, she felt like she was watching someone else. But that person, that amazing woman who feared nothing, was her. Selina woke from these dreams feeling lost. Of not knowing who she really was.

She remembered very little, but one thing was always certain, Bruce Wayne. She remembered everything about him. The way he looked when he was scared or nervous. His smile, whenever he chose to show it. How Wayne Manor creaked and where to step to avoid it. One thing she knew for certain, Bruce Wayne was in danger.

Every morning she went for a walk in a little park by the clinic she was staying in. She didn't question why she had to stay here. After she had her morning meds, she questioned nothing. Her memories of Gotham seemed to fade away like smoke. It was like the girl she was never existed at all. She was thinking about Bruce and wondering if she should call him. She felt that perhaps she had wounded her dearest friend in someway she couldn't put a name to. That his forgiveness might be hard to get.

As if she had willed him to find her, he appeared on the path when she was walking. She blinked, unsure if it was really him or not and saw he was still there. His finely cut suit without a wrinkle and his dark hair neatly combed back. He was smiling, but not showing any teeth.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it is getting a last minute flight to Switzerland. My private jet was undergoing repairs, and I had to fly commercial. The first class international flights are way over ratted. That's all I'll say." he said.

Selina took a step back in shock. She had been walking and he had just appeared on the trail. Had she called him? How did he find her?

She opened her mouth to ask, but was too slow. Her thoughts confusing like a storm inside her brain.  
"They told me you were out here." he waved back at the clinic. "You called me, remember?"

She tried to search her memory, but nothing came back. He approached her and she could already smell the subtle cologne he wore.

"You flew all the way to Switzerland? To see me?" Selina asked. She felt tears swim in her eyes and Bruce's hands were wiping them away. She looked down at her shoes. Ashamed she was crying in front of him.

"I'm really glad to see you." she whispered.

"It's alright." he said soothingly. His thumb grazing over a stray tear on her cheek.

He took her had in his and looked at her with real affection. A tightness in her stomach loosened and she felt happy for the first time since she could remember.  
"Let's go back inside." he said.

 *** I** **modeled** **Arkham Asylum's history from "American Horror Story Asylum".**


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ "What do you mean **Arkham**?" Ivy snapped. Pure haltered boiled in her eyes.

"Based on my evaluation of your case, your mental illness would be best treated in Arkham Asylum. We can provide top notch care." Doctor Rosenbaum said with a self pleased little smile.

"I'm not mentally ill." Ivy said through gritted teeth.

"Really? You broke into Gotham Botanical Gardens and started a meth lab with the plants there." Doctor Rosenbaum said.  
"Not a meth lab!" Ivy argued.  
"You also have an extremely deviant behavior regarding sex." the doctor continued.  
"You wouldn't say that if I were a man." Ivy balked.  
"And your teachers all describe you as unbalanced." the doctor said finally. "All of these factors went into my decision to have you committed to Arkham for a least six months. Instead of jail time of course."

"Six months!" Ivy shouted.

"Yes. You and Mr. Crane will be transfer to the island by the end of the week." Rosenbaum said with her crafty little smile.

~ Arkham Island had gone from an abandoned eyesore, to a whirl of activity. In just a week, an entire wing of the old asylum was up and running. Crews had worked day and night to tear down and redo the aging dry wall and plumbing. Harleen was shocked to see there was already inmates arriving.

She peered through the window of Doctor Rosenbaum's office to see the chain gang like parade from the ferry boat into the main lobby.

"Most of these men have been serving life sentences for murder." Harleen said worriedly. She clutched the files to her chest like a shield. A shiver running down her spin at the sight of them.  
"Yes, and all of them have shown sighing of mental instability over the years." Rosenbaum told her. The doctor sat at her desk and signed off on paperwork without reading them.  
"Yes, but _murder_?" Harleen asked. "Won't that make them too dangerous for the less violent offenders?"

"We have the cells in the basement operational. They will not be in the general public. Stop worrying you stupid girl." Rosenbaum told her. "Now, you'll need to meet with the warden."

She looked over her notes.  
"A Mr. Jack Buchinsky. He'll be responsible for the inmates coming in." she said.  
"Patients." Harleen corrected.

"What?"

"They are patients, not inmates." Harleen repeated.  
Doctor Rosenbaum pulled her glasses off and glared at Harleen.  
"Never correct me again. You're in this internship by the skin of your teeth. Now go and meet with Warden Buchinsky and then fax the new inmate intake sheets to city hall. Then, get me lunch." she ordered.

Harleen quickly ducked out of Rosenbaum's little office and hurried to the main lobby.

Jack Buchinsky was there as if he expected her all this time. He was a tall, thin man with a long face and a contented little smile. Like he knew all the secrets of the world.

"You must be the intern." he said in a long, lazy drawl. "Forced to do all the running around."

"Oh." Harleen said nervously. Several of the new inmates were causing a stir at being shuffled to the basement. They were all in cuffs, but were protesting the news they would be put in basement cells.  
"I don't like to be closed up!" a young man with shocking red hair shouted. Harleen watched him struggle against the guards grasp before the men in charge got tired of his game and hit him with a club.

Harleen couldn't help but give out a little gasp of horror. The red haired man was bleeding from the hit. His body went lip, but his face turned cunning and willful. To her great shock, the man with the red hair started laughing.

"Take the class clown to his cell, please." Bushinsky said calmly.

"The guards are not supposed to hit the patients." Harleen said. She watched the laughing man being dragged away. His manic laughter was still ringing through Arkham's eerie halls. "That poor man was in handcuffs. He wasn't hurting anyone."

"Apologies, my little intern." Bushinsky said in that relaxed and soothing voice of his. It made Harleen's skin crawl just hearing him talk. He sounded like Hannibal Lector when he spoke. "That young man has caused his own share of difficulty. Standard punishments are not effective on him. He seems to exist in his own world. It must be a humorous place; don't you think so?"

Harleen turned to look at him.

"This is a care facility for people who are suffering from mental issues. It won't help them recover if they're being beaten." she told him.

"I see." Bushinsky said in his clam voice. "Intern, your ideas are noble, but I fear misplaced. That particular young man is a murder. He may suffer from his demons I'm sure, but that doesn't change the face he bludgeoned his own mother with a hammer when he was still a teenager."

He looked Harleen over with interest.  
"That's an interesting accent you have there." he mused. "It comes out more when you're upset I think. You grew up across the river? Blue collar family I suspect. It must be quite a thing for you to have broken the mold of your upbringing to try and become a doctor of phycology. I doubt anyone from your neighborhood has ever even been to a therapist."

Harleen gaped at him. The accent she tried so hard to shed. The townee blue collar neighborhood she grew up in. The over crowded foster homes where the foster dad drank his weekend away and all the kids were crowded into tiny bedrooms. She had worked so hard to shed the accent of the people there, but it did come out occasionally.

Her accent was horrible and low class. Especially the way people called their elder by a modified last name. 'Hi Mrs. S! Hello Mr. G!' that was the call of all the kids where she grew up and she refused to have any part of it.

"No more abusing the patients Mr. Bushinsky." Harleen said his last name carefully. "I'll have to report this."

"You do that, little one." he said with his slow and creepy voice. "But my advice would be to stay away from the basement."

~ Bruce had fallen asleep with Selina curled, cat like, in his arms. It was such a rarity for her to be this calm and contented. They had spent the day together and the clinic seemed to be very liberal about its' visitor policy. Not minding at all the Bruce was staying in her room over night.

He worried that the medication was keeping her normal personality so sedated, but he wasn't going to argue with it. Selina seemed at peace for the first time and he didn't want that to end.

Bruce had been dozing when his cell phone buzzed in his pocket.

' _Alfred_.' he thought. Selina was sleeping next to him. Her leg and arm inconveniently curled around his body. Her head resting on his shoulder so it took careful maneuvering to shift his body away without waking her. Selina slept deeply enough to not be disturbed by his movements of freeing himself.

"Alfred?" Bruce said into his phone from the hallway. The clinic was darkened and only the night nurse was on duty.

"Master, Bruce." Alfred said smartly. "Just calling to check on you, sir."

"I'm fine." Bruce said and gave out a loud sigh.

"And the young minx?" Alfred asked.

Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Selina is fine to. Much better lately. I think the medication is working." he said.

"Will you be out of country much longer, sir?" Alfred asked.

Bruce peered through the crack in the door to Selina's room. She was still sleeping peacefully. They day together had been wonderful. They had eaten lunch together, watched an old movie, and she had fallen asleep in his arms. It was too much perfection to go back to Gotham now.

"Not yet." Bruce said. "A few more days at least. Why do you ask? Is everything alright?"

There was a slight pause and Bruce could feel the worry in Alfred from across the ocean.  
"Nothing, sir." he said after a few seconds. "Nothing at all to worry about. Take your time."

Bruce suspected Alfred was lying, but he wanted to go back to Selina.  
"I'll call you tomorrow with more definite plans." he promised and hung up.

Back in her private room, Bruce crawled back into bed with Selina. She stirred slightly and woke up.  
"Bruce?" she murmured in a sleepy daze.

Bruce smiled and pushed back a lock of her wild curls. Her hair never wanted to be tamed.

"Of course." he said with a grin. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. She smiled at him as a reward.

"I'm glad you're here." she said. "I keeping having weird dreams about you."

"About me?" he laughed. "What are they?"

"That you're in danger. I keep thinking someone want's to hurt you." she said.

She nuzzled into his arms and he felt the delight of her body fitting neatly into his.

"No one will hurt me, Selina." he said softly.

He must have fallen asleep then, because he found himself in a world that could only exist in dreams. A world where his parents were alive, he was married to Selina and the nightmare was over.

~ Harleen snuck down to the basement cells with a small first aide kit and a bottle of water. She couldn't get the image out of her mind of the poor young man being beaten by the guards. No one seemed to even care and there was no one who she could report it to. The mayor and doctor Rosenbaum were all treating Arkham like a cash cow. And these patients would suffer if something wasn't done.

She wasn't shocked to see the basement level was deplorable. Dark, dank and cold she felt a shiver run down her spin at the idea of people being locked up here. New iron doors were fitted on the stone door frames, but the place looked like not much more had been improved.

She found what she was looking for by peering into each cell through a little window in the door. The red headed youth was trying to sleep on a mattress on the floor. He had one blanket and it was far too cold in this cell to sleep comfortably.

"Hey." she whispered and the young man roused slightly. He had an interesting face. One that showed intelligence and was well adapted at hiding things.

He looked at her suspiciously, his dark eyes almost menacing. When he saw she was just a girl his face softened.

"Oh. Hello." he said politely. "What are you doing down here? It's not safe for a nice girl like you to be down here."

"I've brought you some water and a first aide kit. I thought you needed some aspirin." she said through the little window on the iron door.

The youth got to his feet and tentatively approached. It was like he was suspicious of her offerings.  
He looked at the bottled water and little packet of aspirin she held out before taking it.

"This is very nice of you… miss?"

"Harleen." she told him quickly. "I have some gauze too. Your head was bleeding before."

The young man took the gauze happily.  
"Thank you, Harleen." he said in a soft, pleasant voice.

"I'll try to bring another blanket for you." she whispered. "But I have to go now."

"I don't want you to get into any trouble, Harleen." he whispered.

"I'll be careful." she whispered back.  
"My name is Jerome." he told her.

"I have to go." she whispered. "If doctor Rosenbaum finds me here I'll be in for it."

"I won't tell if you won't, Harl old girl." Jerome said with an impish grin stretched on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ Gotham city was used to the rain. It hardly every stopped raining in Gotham and Arkham Island seemed to catch the coldest and wettest part of the typical Gotham weather.

Harleen had watched ferry boats loaded down with new arrivals being brought from the main land to the island on a day to day basis. She saw Ivy arrive on the third day and regulated to women's lock up.

Ivy looked drastically different in the unflattering orange jumpsuit. Her red hair classed horribly with the bright colors. Harleen was barely able to give her a friendly hello before the warden, Bushinsky, pushed Ivy and a group of other female patients to the other side of the facility.

The wards soon became crowded with people. Bunk beds were erected in hallways and group therapy held thirty patients or more. Harleen was bombarded with paper work and Doctor Rosenbaum was signing anything put under her nose.

"The mayor is pleased, Harleen." Rosenbaum beamed one rainy morning. "Very pleased."

"Ward 7 had a small riot last night." Harleen said. "The dinner cart ran out of food and there was fighting."

"Tell Bushinsky to talk to the food workers." Rosenbaum said with a wave of her hand.  
"Doctor, there are too many patients in Arkham. This building wasn't even zoned for this many people. We can't control a population this size, much less help them." Harleen argued. "You haven't seen a single patient yet."

Doctor Rosenbaum gave her that terrible icy glare.

"Harleen, some of these poor people will not benefit from direct care. We will keep them medicated. I think starting all of the wards on depressants will keep them in line." the doctor said.

"Drug everyone?" Harleen questioned. "That's unethical."

"The mayor approves. The inmates are dangerous and need to be kept in check." the doctor argued.

~ Ivy was packed into a women's ward with twenty bunk beds lined up too close together. Female guards made sure the inmates didn't kill each other, but for some reason, no one bothered Ivy much. She had gotten used to people always being a little afraid of her.

She had spotted Harleen as soon as she had arrived, but the warden kept them from talking. She wondered if Harleen had tried to use the lipstick and what effect it would have.

In the meantime, she had to find a way out of this hell hole. This place was worse than any foster home or even prison. It was too crowded and she suspected they were being drugged.

She hadn't been seen yet by any doctor which was promising. Ivy Pepper had bad experiences with doctors before.

~ Mayor James liked the numbers he was seeing coming out of Arkham Asylum. Every name on Doctor Rosenbaum's list was like looking at a dollar sign. The over crowding in Blackgate was eased and he was receiving some of the inflated government money for a simple transfer.

He just had to answer a few questions from a nosey reporter for now. But that was alright. He was used to playing the media.

"Mayor, I have some questions about some of these inmates." Vicki Vale said. "These men and women are cold blooded murders. Sentenced in a court of law to life imprison. Why the transfer to Arkham?"

"They are indeed guilty of horrible crimes. They will be getting the help they need now." The mayor said with a grin.

"Help to do what? Rehabilitate? Most of them have life sentences. You're not looking to release any of them are you?" Dent asked.

"Oh no. We are just trying to help them. Anything to ease their suffering." the mayor said with a grin.

"The same doctor has signed off on over two thousand new inmates. One doctor can't possibly treat that many patients." Vicki accused.

The pretty blond girl sat across from Mayor James' desk looking angry. Her picture perfect face looked like it should be on the cover a movie poster, not accusing him of misconduct. Pretty women had no business being smart.

"Arkham has other doctors." James said.

"Who? What are their names?" she asked getting her pen and notepad ready.

"We have other doctors working there and that is all you need to know." he assured her.

"Like who? What are their names?" Vale asked with her eyes rolling.

Mayor James was goring annoyed.

"Miss Vale, that is for this office and the board of mental health to know. Not the general public." he said.

"Well, you see I called the board of Mental Health Services and they are having trouble finding any doctor who is working at Arkham Asylum other than doctor Rosenbaum. A mental health physician who has come under review numerous times on accusations of bribery and misconduct." she snapped.

"Doctor Roesnbaum is a mental health expert who is supervising the revitalization Arkham Asylum with my complete confidence." Mayor James said sternly.

"This isn't the first time your administration had reopened the derelict Arkham Asylum. Is was briefly opened several years ago and there was a number of serious inmate assaults. Then, there was the death of the director at the hands of an inmate. That same inmate later escaped and hasn't been seen since. Why are you reopening Arkham after such failures in the past?" Vicki accused.

Mayor James could feel his blood pressure going up.  
"I know this must be a difficult time for you Miss. Vale. What with your break up with Wayne and all." he said calmly. "A single girl like you must have to throw herself into her work just to keep busy. But you're looking for a scandal that doesn't exist."

Vicki looked angry. Her pretty lips going into a thin line of annoyance.

"Why wasn't the news alerted to Arkham's reopening?" she asked plainly.

"Maybe you should go home, Miss Vale. Or ask to write the advice column. Something more suited to women's interests. Arkham is for very bad people. Let the men worry about it." Mayor James said.  
"I will take that as direct quote." Vicki said happily. "I'm sure my female readers will love to read about our sexist mayor."

~ Vicki Vale _had_ been throwing herself into her work. Ever since those pictures of Bruce showed up on the gossip shows. He had his arm around the same pretty actress who was at that dinner party months ago. The same dinner party she had first met the charming billionaire.

She wasn't sure what to make of Bruce Wayne now. They hadn't really been a couple. This wan't high school, she wasn't wearing his letterman jacket or anything like that. But she had thought they were something at least. He didn't even call her to break up officially. The pictures of him and that other woman came out, the gossipers gossiped and he never called her back. He never explained, he didn't seem to care.

It had been a few weeks now and the rumor mill had died down. But Vicki was still hurt. She wasn't used to being so casually dumped like this. She was a pretty girl. Pretty girls don't get dumped. Pretty girls abuse boys badly and then lose them. Not the other way around.

"How was the meeting with the mayor?" Harold asked when she came back to her desk.

"Annoying." Vicki said grumpily. "Arkham has reopened and my article will be the first anyone in Gotham is going to hear about it."

"So you have the scoop." Harold said. "That's something."

"I don't think anyone even cares about Arkham." Vicki said. "I need an inside look. The whole island is off limits to reporters."  
"Find a way." Harold said. "Stories don't just fall in your lap, kid."

"I have a feeling if I were writing about the masked man, we would get more attention." she told him.

Harold shook his head and looked around.

"Our owners don't want any stories about the freak." he said in a hushed tone.

"What about the police reports at the Botanical Gardens? The reports about a woman breaking out of the hospital window and jumping four stories down? All of that is very strange, Harold. Even for Gotham. Why aren't we reporting on any of that?" she hissed.

"Vicki." Harold said sternly. "Don't make waves just now. Write about Arkham and if you get an inside scoop, run with it. Don't go looking into the freak show."

~ Harleen came back to the basement in the middle of the night to see Jerome. She had brought him a blanket, more bottled water and some extra bread. She was sure the guards were not feeding the inmates down here enough.

"Thanks, Harl." Jerome said with a kind smile. "Seeing you is the best part of my day."

"Are you okay?" she asked in a high voice. Something about Jerome made her act more feminine than she was used to. She liked to preen before him and seem helpless.

He smiled and shrugged.

"Now that you're here, I'm A O.K." he said.

"I'm glad. It's getting bad upstairs." she whispered.

"Maybe they'll let me out soon." he offered with a smile. "We can leave together."

Harleen smiled and felt herself blush. She wished she had thought to apply Ivy's lipstick before coming down to see him. She would have felt prettier. But that lipstick… had side effects she couldn't explain.

"I have to go." she said and quickly left Jerome.

~ In the female ward, the guards ignored Harleen. They knew she was Doctor Rosenbaum's personal assistant and that she would naturally have the run of all the units. So no one questioned when she asked to speak to Ivy Pepper.

Harleen found her in the last cell on the ward. A large room meant to only house half a dozen women, was over flowing with bunk beds pushed up against every available space.

"Harleen?" came a surprised voice and Ivy appeared out of the faces of the tired and stressed women there.  
"Ivy." Harleen breathed in relief. "I'm glad to see you."

Ivy detached from the mass of people and followed Harleen out into the hallway.

"Please tell me you have my lipstick." Ivy said curtly.

Harleen shook her head.  
"I mean, yes, I have it. I can't give it to you. It's not allowed." she said. "I need to ask you about it. I tried it on the other day and-"

"Harleen." Ivy said cooly. "You need to get me my lipstick back. We can help each other if you just get me my lipstick."  
Harleen looked back at Ivy. She could feel herself falling under her influence again. Ivy Pepper was manipulating her.  
"Ivy." Harleen said taking a shaky breath. "I'll get you your things as soon as Doctor Rosenbaum starts treating you."

"No doctors. I need to leave Arkham." Ivy told her.

"I can't do that." Harleen said quickly.

"Look around you." Ivy hissed. "This place is dangerously overcrowded. Your so called doctor isn't helping anyone. Do you honestly think I belong here?"

Harleen shook her head.

Ivy wasn't like the poor souls who needed mental healthcare.

"Help me escape and we can go to the press." Ivy whispered.

"The mayor." Harleen croaked. "They won't allow it."

"I'll be _persuasive_." Ivy assured her. "Just get me my lipstick. I'll take care of the rest. "

Harleen found herself nodding in agreement.

~ In the kitchen of Wayne Manor, Alfred read over the depressing news of Arkham's reopening. Years ago, Bruce's grandmother had lead the charge on closing Arkham Island for good. There were so many horrible tales of abuse coming from the place, it was a blessing to have it closed. When it reopened shortly after Thomas and Martha Wayne were shot, Alfred was certain the thing wouldn't have happened had they still been alive.

Now, it was opening again and Miss Vale had written a story about it. She had strongly implied the mayor was using the asylum for profit.

Alfred knew if Master Bruce was still in Gotham, he would put a stop to Arkham. But he was in Switzerland attending to Miss Kyle. He seemed happy.

Alfred wasn't about to take that away from him. He would let Gotham burn to the ground before he would allow Bruce to suffer.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ Selina rolled over and draped a leg over Bruce's bare hip. It felt comforting to be in his arms again. His body was larger than she remembered. His shoulders and chest seemed to be broader and harder to. His preppy style of dress had hidden the mass he had acquired since she had last seen… _all_ of him. Even his hands and legs were stronger. Not that is was anything to complain about.

He was sleeping peacefully and wasn't aware that she had woken. A nightmare had pulled her into the waking world and found her safely in bed with Bruce. The well appointed room was safe and calming, but her heart was still racing.

Memories of Gotham, of the rain and cold were haunting her. They were coming to the surface and bringing a fear with them she couldn't put a name to. She couldn't remember what her dreams were about exactly, only that she thought she might have hurt Bruce. Memories of running down a deserted ally, of killing a bad man. Nightmares of hunting. She was always hunting for something.

"Bruce?" she whispered and ran a hand over a faint red mark on his rib. She looked over carefully the bare chest of her old friend and wondered where the boy she had always known had gone to. When had he become a man?

Bruce groaned slightly and reached out for her. His large hand, larger than she remembered, pulling her smaller body closer to him. Selina played coy and covered her body up with the blankets. Not that it mattered now anyway. She never regretted being with Bruce. It was always the after part that made her feel slightly guilty. The mornings when she would abandon him before the sun came up. His feeling hurt and the knowledge that she had been responsible. Still, the allure of naked flesh of flesh was too beautiful to say no to, and Bruce was the only man she ever trusted enough.

"Bruce?" she whispered again and ran a hand through his dark hair. He opened his eyes slowly and sighed.

"You're still here." he said with a grin.  
"It's my room." she teased.

"Maybe that's the trick." he smiled. He propped he head on his hand and looked happy.  
"Last night was nice." she said politely. She wasn't going to give him anymore praise than that. He wasn't Superman after all.

"Very much so." Bruce agreed. "Thank you for inviting me. We must do this again."

She grinned shamelessly at him and buried her face in the pillow. She could feel a deep blush creeping over her.

"When will you go back to Gotham?" she asked once the embarrassment was over.

Bruce looked unconcerned. Selina smooth back a stray lock of hair from his face and wished she hadn't brought up his leaving. It was inevitable, she knew that. Bruce had a life away from hers. One of parities, board meetings, expensive dinners and beautiful socialites. It was a world he had invited her to join, but she knew she could never truly belong to.

"I'm not sure." he whispered and looked a little sad.

"Vicki?" Selina asked worriedly.  
"Vicki." Bruce said with a sigh. "It seems someone took our pictures at Gotham Square and now the whole city is saying I'm a bit of a cad."

"Imagine that." Selina teased and ran her leg further up his bare hip.

He kissed her sweetly.

"Vicki is over me. Don't worry." he assured her.

"I'm sorry." Selina said.

"Don't be." Bruce told her. "I would have come for you no matter what."

Selina felt that blush creeping over her face again. She didn't ask why someone was taking their picture in Gotham Square. If she was with Bruce Wayne in Gotham that was enough.

"When were we in Gotham Square?" she asked. Her memories had been such a fog lately. She had trouble recalling the last time she saw her old friend before this place.

Bruce looked at her curiously.

"You asked me to pick you up." he said. "The night of the GCPD closed the bridge to the Narrows. They had that big drug bust. Remember?"

Selina searched her memories for the Narrows and the bridge and came up empty.  
"No." she said pitifully.

"It's alright." Bruce assured her gently. He hissed her forehead and let her settle back into his arms.

"Bruce?" she asked once she was comfortable resting on his chest.

"Hmm?"

"Do you have to go back to Gotham? Can you just stay here?" she asked. "We could get a little house in the village or something. Live like normal people."  
She felt Bruce breathe a little deeper, but he gave her no answer.

~ "Now, tell me why you're here." Vicki asked the blond girl. Unlike her guest, Vicki had a nice apartment in a trendy neighborhood. It was small, that was true, but it was very chic and cozy. It had taken a lot of painful searching in high end antique shops to furnish her little slice of Gotham just the way she wanted it.

The result was Ab Fab. Gloria DeWit even wanted to take photo's of her place for her interior design column. Bruce Wayne had even said he liked her place, although he might have just been being polite. Her pay raise at the paper had gotten her out of the rat hole she once lived in, her relationship with Bruce Wayne had put her in touch with all the most fashionable people. Now, he was gone, she was the girl he had dumped for some strange woman no one who was anyone knew. She was to be pitted and told there were plenty of fish in the sea. That the charming Mr. Wayne was nothing more than a playboy.

Not that she cared about the well mannered Mr. Wayne anymore anyway. She had a possible contact into Arkham Asylum.

Miss Harleen Quinzel had called her from a restaurant phone and asked to talk about Arkham.  
"Look, people need to know." Harleen said in a thick accent that showed the girl had spent many formative years in the working class neighborhoods. "They got to know what's happening in Arkham. Over crowding, dangerous people living next to people who are in need of real medical help. There's not even enough food for everyone. I read up on Arkham's history, I know that when a reported snuck in, pretending to be a patient, he broke the place wide open with what he found there. I figure you could do the same. People would listen to you."

"I'm also famous." Vicki said with an eye roll. "I would be recognized. I'm not sure if you've ever read any trash rags or watch TV, but my face is all over the gossip shows."  
"No, you won't be recognized, I'm sure of it. We could dye your hair, put glasses on you. It will also prove that the doctors don't really look at the patients anyway! They are all just a number to them." Harleen said eagerly. "Miss, Vale, you need to see for yourself what it's like. The basement is a dungeon and they keep this poor young man locked down there. It's freezing cold and you can actually sell the sewers from their cells. It's awful. The wards are all over crowded and no one knows because Arkham isn't letting reporters in."

"Gotham's Patient Privacy Act." Vicki muttered. "No reporters are allowed into the facility. What about the staff? Why haven't they reported on it? Why is it just you?"  
"Rosenbaum has hired nurses and screws who couldn't find work anywhere else. They have to keep their mouths shut. Listen, I know if you get in with a camera, you'll have a story in less than an hour and Arkham will be shut down forever." Harleen said hopefully.

"Your career will be over if they find out it was you." Vicki told her.

Harleen shook her head.  
"Don't worry about me. You just need a few hours, Miss. Vale. You'll have enough to shut down that awful place for good." she said.

"It can't be just me." Vicki said with a shake of her head. "I need a camera crew in with me. We have small units that can be attached to the crews body, but I'm going into a place with the criminally insane, I can't go alone."  
"I can get passes for you and two others." Harleen said eagerly. "I'll type them up myself. Rosenbaum will sigh anything I put under her these days. Just make sure you get the poor people in the basement first."

Vicki could feel professional excitement stirring. She was going to break open a case of abuse and political corruption. She would be a real journalist and not just Bruce Wayne's Ex Girlfriend. She would do it all on her own and wouldn't have people say it was just because she was dating the right man.

"Very well, Harleen." she said with a smile. "Let's do it."

 **I'm sorry again about the long** **absents of updates. I've got a lot on my plate just now.I know I said I wouldn't do any sexy things with Bruce and Selina because the actors are so young, but in this story, they are older and I feel they would be comfortable being more intimate. I didn't include any erotica, which, if you've read my other work, is a first for me.**


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ Vicki took in the results of her new look from a compact mirror in Harleen's bag. When she had gone to the salon and requested her naturally platinum hair be dyed a gothic black, the girl almost refused.

"Miss Vale, if this is about the break up." she had tried to explain.

"Nothing to do with a man." Vicki had snapped. "There's an extra $50 in it for you if you stay quite about this."

She had purposefully scheduled her appointment after closing so the tabloids wouldn't snap a picture of her. With her hair freshly blackened, her camera man said she looked a little like Angelina Jolie.

"How comforting." Vicki mused dryly. She didn't care for the darker locks, but knew it would make her look like a more serious journalist. People tended to listen to dark haired women and think they were smarter than blonds.

The van Harleen was driving lurched across the street like a rickety old stage coach. It was the standard city van making a night time delivery of two new inmates, male and female, to Arkham Island.  
"This will be your first on camera story?" Gus the camera man asked. He was smacking gum and adjusting a small camera that would be hidden on the button of his jacket.

"No worries." Vicki said breezily. She tried to control the flutters of butterflies in her stomach at the idea of being on camera; especially with this hideous hair and large glasses.  
"Don't worry, doll face." Gus said with a grin. "You just talk like you and I are the only ones in the room and you'll do fine."  
"You aren't scared of being locked into a nut house with the criminally insane?" she asked.

Gus shook his head.  
"I covered the Gulf War right out of high school. Had PTSD when I came back. Had to do a stent in the VA mental ward for it. I know what to expect. But if things get too crazy in there, understand I can't help you." he said.

Vicki looked at him in surprise.

He patted the main camera that was hidden Harleen's briefcase.

"I gotta keep the camera rolling. That's my main job. If I stop recording, no one will believe what went down in Arkham." he said. "If things get really hairy, this cam can stream live from a built in router."

He gave her a grin and went back to readjusting his secondary camera.

"Don't worry." Harleen said from behind the wheel. "You'll just record the living condition and get out."

"You said there was a riot a few days ago." Vicki reminded her. This whole plan was starting to seem like a bad idea.

"We won't be here long enough for that." Harleen assured her.

"You wanted to be a real reporter." Gus reminded. He was still smacking his gum and looked eager to start the adventure. "Real reporters go into the trenches all the time."

"This is the ferry." Harleen said quietly. "Now, just keep your head down and don't make eye contact. The inmates are always sedated when they come into Arkham. The guards will know something is up if you look too alert."

Vicki looked to Gus who dropped his head down as if in prayer. She quickly mimicked his posture and stared at her shoes. Her dark tresses were falling limply into her face.

"It's almost midnight, Miss Quinzel." One of the guards who ran the ferry snapped.  
"I know. I need to hurry." she sighed. "New patients. Doctor Rosenbaum wanted them on the books before the next day. It's the first of the month and she needs to fill a her quota."

"Her and that quota." the guard mumbled. "Alright. Drive on in and park. We can get you to the island before midnight. Here, start on their paper work while you wait. Just leave them in the van."

Vicki peeped over her dark hair as Harleen drove the van onto the ferry and got out. She appeared to be filling out forms to have them admitted.  
"Gus." she whispered to the camera man, but he had beaten her to it. Already, he had gotten a perfect shot of the so called guards leaving Arkham patients alone in a van.

"Not too late to turn back, doll face." Gus said as he panned around the van and got a gloomy and wonderful shot of Arkham Island coming out of the mist.

"Not a chance." Vicki said. "Don't stop filming for any reason."

~ Arkham Asylum was every bit the setting of every ghost story ever told. At night, the lights were reduced and cast odd and creepy shadows around the main lobby. The paint looked new, but it was of the standard grayish green type that would send shivers down anyone's spine. Windows had crule looking bars over them and there was an intense claustrophobic feeling about the place. Vicky peeked down dark hallways that seemed to stitch on forever and wondered how big this place actually was.

"This way to the basement." Harleen said quickly once they walked past the nurses station.

"Where are the staff?" Vicki asked in shock. She could hear cries coming from the dark hallways all around her and wondered what was happening.

"Skeleton staff at nights." Harleen told her.

"The patients?" Vicki asked.  
"Tied to their beds or locked down in the wards. Now, come on!" Harleen hissed.

Vicki turned to Gus in delight.  
"Still rolling." he said and held up the camera that he had hidden in Harleen's bag.  
"We have as yet unconfirmed reports that patients are being restrained all night in their beds or locked in a ward. All so the mayor can run a skeleton crew and save money." she said to the camera.

"We should get shots of the patients first. The ones in the hallways." Vicki told Harleen.

Harleen shook her head.

"No, we have to do the basement first." she insisted.

Gus gave her the thumbs up and Harleen pulled her to a door marked basement.

Right away, Vicki could sense this wasn't a place she wanted to go. The whole asylum was already dark and depressing. The stair well that lead them to the basement was even more foreboding. Only a yellow light at each landing let her see each step.  
"I heard rumors some crazy lady lived down here all alone for years." Gus said. He had turned on the camera lights to give them the feeling of safety in this dark well. "She lived off canned fruit and ham for like ten years. When she came back up, she passed herself off as a nurse and then got lobotomized."

"Gus!" Vicki hissed.

"Sorry." Gus said. "It's just a rumor."

Vicki turned to the camera when she reached to bottom of the stairs.  
"The smell of raw sewage is already over powering. Clearly the mayors efforts to restore Arkham were not successful."

She could hear moaning and saw faces appearing at the windows of each door.  
"During the civil war," Harleen said eagerly, "they used to hold prisoners here."

Vicki had no problems believing this. The walls were made of rocks and new steel doors were affixed to hold in new monsters.

"Jerome?" Harleen called out. She was rushing past all the cells while Gus was attempting to shin the camera light on each face.

"Keep going, doll face." he urged Vicki.

Vicki had to remind herself to talk and tried to control the shudder going down her spin.

"The basement…" she said and looked around her as one man cried out for attention. "Is no place to house any human being. It's cold, dark and smells as if there isn't adequate waste disposal."

She coughed at the smell of foulness reached her. There was a horrible grinding sound and Vicki saw Gus' mouth drop in horror. She turned around to see Harleen opening one of the doors and help one of the prisoners out.

"What are you doing?" Vicki hissed at her in shock.

"This is my friend. He needs medical help." Harleen said. She had a thin but very tall young man draped over her shoulder. His body hung limp and helpless. His long hair falling over his face and he only seemed to have strength to let Harleen hold him up.

"We are not releasing prisoners!" Vicki hissed as the other prisoners, seeing what was happening started to shout and hoot at them.  
"Patients!" Harleen snapped angrily.

"This wasn't apart of our deal." Vicki said. "We will expose this place but we won't assist in a jail break."

"He will die if I don't get him out." Harleen said. She started back at Vicki with large defiant eyes.

"Doll face, we gotta get the rest of the story." Gus said simply.

"Doll face?" the young man who was hanging onto Harleen said.

Vicki and Gus looked at him. He had seemed to have gotten his strength back because he was looking at them with a large, plastic like grin on his face. His eyes, frighteningly cold like bits of granet.

"Doll face. I get it." he said. His voice was cold and teasing. Vicki felt her blood turn to ice water and could picture the terror a man like this was capable of.

He started laughing then, a laugh so menacing and out of control, Vicki and Gus could only stare at him in horror.

He moved away from Harleen and, before they could understand what was happening, he had flipped a large release lever on the side of the wall.

Like gun shots going off, all the doors to the basement opened automatically. Monsters jumping out of their boxes and coming out to play.

~ In Switzerland, Bruce Wayne looked over a charming cottage in the village. He wasn't interested in buying a house here, but renting was possible. It might even be good for the both of them. They could hide here forever if they needed to. Sure it might be hard with limited internet, but that might be for the best in the long run. Bruce had gone serial days without checking the news or internet. He found the detox from the rest of the world liberating.

"It's two bedrooms, one bathroom. Fully prepared for winter of course, if you want to stay that long. We have wonderful Christmas programs for the younger ones." the real-estate agent was saying.

Bruce climbed up the stairs that were built from split logs and had a hard time picturing himself in such a place. He was used to finer surroundings. Still, if it would make Selina happy, he could give it a try. She seemed to flourish here, far away from Gotham. She smiled more and he hoped if she stayed, she might be happy forever.

"Perhaps a little less… charming." Bruce offed politely. "We're from Gotham and I'm afraid we're not used to cutting out own fire wood."

He smiled at the agent who seemed to enjoy to joke.

"Terrible thing, what's happening in Gotham right now. I can't say I blame you for wanting to leave country. Not that America is all bad." the man said.

"Gotham?" Bruce asked. "What's happening in Gotham?"

"Well, it was all over the news this morning." the agent said. "A riot at the mental hospital. Some reporter is trapped in there. She's been broadcasting live. The whole place is in a stand off with police."

Bruce could hear the sounds of the ocean in his ears. He couldn't hear anything else while the agent was talking.

" _Arkham_." he said at last. "There is a riot... at Arkham Asylum*."

 **I also based Arkham on Brother's Island in New York.**


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ Selina was watching TV in her room when she saw the reports. Vicki Vale looked different in the hazy dark camera lights. But her hair didn't hide the famous reporter long. She was broadcasting live with plums of smoke all around her. A riot had broken out at Arkham Asylum and she was trapped.  
"We think the inmates have started a fire in the east wing." she said calmly. "We are barricaded in the north wing with several staff members."

An older male newsman was asking her questions about the disaster.  
"Miss Vale, how did the riot start?" he said an a reassuring transatlantic accent.

"We have video of a staff member, Harleen Quinzel, helping an inmate escape. That same inmate released the others." Vicki said with remarkable poise.

"If you're just now joining us, reporter for the Gotham Harold Vicki Vale is trapped in Arkham Asylum. There appears to be a full scale riot and the inmates are in control of the island. Gotham Police have surrounded the grounds by boat and are utilizing SWAT teams to regain control."

Selina could feel herself breathing hard at the sight of the asylum from the news helicopters. She felt badly for Vicki in that moment and hoped she was alright. The news helicopters were shinning lights over the grounds of Arkham and catching inmates dressed in white running through the trees and to the shores. Some of them even attempting to swim the filthy river into Gotham.

When Bruce stormed in, he found Selina fully dressed and with both their bags packed.

"You're going back to Gotham." she announced. "I'm going back with you." she told him.

"You need to stay here. Arkham is my problem. Wayne Enterprises still owns the deed." he argued.  
She shook her head.

"You came when I needed you, now It's my turn." she told him.  
"Selina." he sighed. "You're not well."

"Not well?" she snapped. "What exactly is wrong with me then? I've been here for weeks now and no one will give me an answer. I'm leaving today, and I'm going home."

"Selina." Bruce said.

"I want to be there for you." she explained. "Just like it used to be, I want to be the one you can depend on."

~ Harleen was in tears when Jerome pulled her out of the smoke filled hallway. Maniacal laughter was ringing out along with the outdated fire alarm. The sprinkler system was going off and saturating the entire floor with cold water. Arkham had always been a chaotic maze of dark hallways. Although she had been working here for a while, all the confusion and the dark made her lose her sense of direction.

The escaping inmates were shouting and pushing each other down as they made for the exits, but Jerome was pulling her in another direction.

"Jay!" Harleen cried. "What are you doing? You let them escape!"

"A diversion!" he said as if they were strolling through a garden in spring time. Harleen was coughing from the waves of smoke that had found them. Someone had started a fire.

"We have to get out." she coughed.

Jerome stopped long enough to look out a large window at the police boats swarming the island.  
"Of course we do." Jerome said and pulled her to a deserted corridor. "But we have to avoid all the baddies now, don't we?"

Harleen nodded.

"Don't worry, Harl old girl, I won't let them hurt you." he said kindly. He took her hand and gave her that large, wonderful smile of his. "We're going to get out of here and when we do, we're going to show them what we're made of."

"The patients!" Harleen said with a sudden flash of responsibility. "Jay, we have to release them! They're tied to their beds! They might burn to death."

"The smoke will get them first, Harl." Jerome grumbled.

"No, Jay. We have to help them!" Harleen argued and pulled him to stop.

Jerome looked annoyed but then his face softened.  
"Good idea, Harl." he said with a grin. "You always have great ideas. That's why you're my best girl."

~ Arkham didn't look any different from the last time Jim Gordon had seen it. True, there had been some improvements, but it was still a depressing place. Even with the fire blazing out of control in one of the far wings.

SWAT team members were shooting tear gas into the windows of the rioting wings and forcing the dangerous inmates out.

All the while, that meddlesome reporter, Vicki Vale was broadcasting from her barricade in the North Wing.

"The firefighters are moving in by boat, but the wing is a total loss." Bullock was saying.

Gordon was watching in silent amazement as hoards of people, most of them in hospital gowns were wandering out of Arkham in a daze.

"The fire alarms released all the doors to the wards." Bullock explained. "Good thing to, or else they all would have died from the smoke."

"Too many people." Gordon said taking in the sheer volume of inmates. "There isn't enough room on the island. We'll have to evacuate them to the mainland."

"Put them where?" Bullock asked.

"Holding cells, hospitals, anywhere. We're going to lose track of all these people if we don't get control now." Gordon snapped.

~ Gordon and Bullock were arguing in the middle of the disaster. It was a predictable habit of theirs and they sounded like an old married couple. Ivy walked purposefully past them, opened a nearby squad car, and helped herself to a police man's jacket and hat. She was glad Harleen had slipped her some street clothes before bringing in the TV crew. Even happier she now had her lipstick back.

Ivy blended in with the confusion of police officers now and no one paid her any attention. She looked for Jonathan and Harleen, but the inmates looked like a hive of bees swarming out of Arkham. The fire was unexpected but beneficial to her escape.

No swimming in the river now.  
"We're getting these people off the island so the fire trucks can come in!" Ivy shouted to the ferry boat driver. Like herding cattle, a line of confused patients from Arkham allowed themselves to be guided onto the ferry. It was a large boat that took cars and supplies to the island everyday. It easily fit the horde of inmates.

"Where are we going to put them?" the ferry boat driver asked.

Before Ivy could answer, the operator fell to the ground with a heavy thud. From behind him, a ragged, thin young man stood holding a police billy club.  
"Hope you don't mind giving us a lift." the young man said. He had a strange, almost ghastly smile on his face.

Ivy gasped slightly when she saw Harleen beside him.

"Jay and I are getting off in Gotham." she explained.  
"What about your reporter friend?" Ivy asked.

"Probably died in the fire." Harleen said with an indifferent shrug.

She wrapped her arms around her new companion.  
"Such a shame." he said with that creepy smile.

~ Vicki helped a ward nurse barricade the door shut. From the sound of it, the inmates were not far off. Her grand plan for exposing Arkham wasn't going well. At best she was looking like a fool right now. A nosy reporter who was punching above her weight class and was getting what she deserved.

At worst, she might be killed by deranged psychopaths in front of millions of viewers on live TV.

"We're still on the air." Gus told her. He held the camera to his shoulder and nodded for her to keep talking.

Vicki smoothed back her hair and tried to show some composer.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, while attempting to gain footage of the deplorable conditions of Arkham Asylum and lapsed staffing, a prisoner escaped and subsequently released all of the highly dangerous inmates with him. Myself, my camera man and a few of the staff have managed to lock ourselves in the hospital wing of Arkham where we will await rescue." she said calmly.

Gus was nodding to her and gave her a thumbs up.

"Who are you?" barked a large, grey haired woman. She was in a doctor's white coat and would have looked grumpy even without the riot. Somehow, she had managed to find herself with Vicki's group in all the confusion. The panic of seeing freed inmates running down the hall had made everyone stay together.

"I'm Vicki Vale. I'm a reporter for the Gotham Harold and we're doing a story on Arkham and the corruption behind it." Vicki snapped. There was no need for discretion now. Not with a riot in full swing.

"You're Doctor Rosenbaum." Vivki said recognizing the grey haired woman.

Doctor Rosenbaum looked pale at the sight of the live camera focused on her.

"Doctor Rosenbaum, why is Arkham so over crowded? We have it on very good authority that inmates are restrained at night or locked in over crowded wards. That basement is a serious health hazard." Vicki accused.

The doctor backed away from the camera. Her face now red with anger.

"Answer me, Doctor! Why are you abusing mentally ill people? Why are you and Mayor James using Arkham asylum to launder money from the state government? Charging for programs that don't exist and putting people in this facility without even giving them medical care!" Vicki shouted at the doctor.

She was on fire. Vicki felt alive and totally in her element now. She started to list off all her research and suspicions to Doctor Rosenbaum. Gus had the camera on them both as the Doctor yelled back at her. Arkham was burning to the ground, inmates were rioting on the lawn, the SWAT team was moving in, all of it on live TV. It was a magical evening.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

~ Selina had to admit, that a privet jet was amazing. There was in flight food, drinks and comfortable leather seats that were heated. Being childhood sweethearts with a billionaire had it's perks. Bruce stayed glued to the TV during the entire flight home. His posture leaning forward as if willing the plane to go faster against the setting sun.

As much as he wanted to, the plane couldn't turn back time. They could only watch helplessly as Arkham burned on live TV.

"I'm sure Vicki will be fine." she said. "She's still broadcasting and the SWAT teams are moving in."

Bruce was quite and kept his gaze on the TV.

"Bruce, drink some water at least." she said handing him a bottle. It no doubt cost a fortune on the plane.

Bruce took it without looking at her. His focus was entirely on the helicopter footage of Arkham Asylum. A bright fire was burning one of the wings and it lit up the night sky.

"We're still three hours out." he grumbled. "By the time we get there, I won't be able to help."

"Help what?" Selina asked with a laugh. "Are you planning on helping the GCPD round up all the prisoners?"

She meant it as a joke, but Bruce looked back at her in surprise. Like he had been caught in the act of something.  
"No." he said quickly. "I just need to meet with the share holders before they make a public statement. This could reflect badly on us."

Selina nodded. It was always about business with Bruce Wayne.  
"Your grandmother shut down Arkham a long time ago." she reminded him.

"Yes." Bruce agreed as they watched the chaos. "My mother wanted to reopen it, but not like this."

He waved a hand as a prerecorded video of Vicki Vale was touring the inhumane conditions of the basement at Arkham. Her report was running non stop now. Every major network in Gotham was building up to the Arkham riot. This would be news for months.  
"How?" Selina asked hoping to distract him. "How did she want it?"

"She wanted the asylum to be a beacon of hope." Bruce said swallowing hard. "A place for someone to get well, not to be shut away forever. She said it was a travesty that Arkham was a place to hide all of Gotham's poor souls who just needed help."

"You remember telling me once that a crisis and opportunity are the same thing?" Selina asked. She had seated herself across the aisle from Bruce. She wanted to give him enough space to think without interfering. He had always been an island to her. An enigma she couldn't figure out.  
"I don't think that's exactly what I said, but yes." he admitted.

"Well, maybe this will be your opportunity to rebuild Arkham. Like your mom wanted." Selina offered.

She nodded to the live footage. Almost all of the Asylum was in flames now.  
"You can rebuild it and make it like you want. Wayne enterprises still owns the land, right?" she asked.

Bruce looked thoughtful.  
"It would be expensive." Bruce sighed. "Building a new facility alone would cost a fortune."

Bruce looked inspired.

"I would want to keep it a private facility. Something the mayor wouldn't have a hand in. Not a court ordered place, but a rehabilitation option." he said hopefully.

Selina smiled.

"It would have to stay low cost for the people who actually need it." he admitted.

"What about the criminally insane?" Selina asked.

She and Bruce looked back at the screen. Gordon was on TV now. He and Bullock were arresting inmates and putting them on a ferry to the mainland. Mayor James was announcing they would be taken to neighboring towns until something could be done with them.  
"First thing is to get Arkham under control." Bruce said darkly.

A banner headline ran across the screen.

 _'_ _HUNDREDS OF INMATES BELIEVED TO HAVE ESCAPED ARKHAM DURING THE RIOT'_

~ Jim Gordon took his first walk through the lobby of Arkham at day break. The riot was contained to the far east wing and Vicki Vale was being rescued by a handsome fire fighter in front of a world audience at that moment.

News helicopters were shining light over the hospital wing as she was heroically lifted out of a window and onto a bucket truck. No doubt it would be on the cover of every newspaper tomorrow, complete with an exclusive interview.

"Good news." Bullock said coming into the lobby behind Gordon.

"Vale is out." Gordon guessed.  
"Better. Rosenbaum sang like a bird with all the pressure. She ratted out the mayor and everything. We might have our first recalled election." Bullock said happily.

"Harvey." Gordon said darkly. "The press is speculating that inmates might have escaped."

"Into what? The river?" Bullock laughed. "If they did, the pollution would have killed them before they reached the shore."

"I hope you're right." Gordon said. "Any news on the warden? What was his name?"

"Bushinsky. Jack Bushinsky. Sounds Polish. I don't know." Bullock said.

"Where is he?" Gordon asked feeling irritated.  
"MIA since the riot, but his paper work will be in Rosenbaum's office." Bullock offered lamely.

"The warden of this dump is missing during a full scale riot and massive TV coverage?" Gordon asked.

Bullock shrugged.  
"Which way to Rosenbaum's office?" Gordon growled.

~ Vicki Vale was on top of the world. A Brad Pitt look a like firefighter helped her out of the window of the hospital wing and into a bucket truck. He had a TV ready smile and perfectly whitened teeth. He also knew enough to wave to the cameras with her once they were safely away from Arkham.

Gus was still filming the chaos of the riot from the window but nothing could put a price tag on this moment of triumph.

' _My, God._ ' Vicki thought happily as they reached the ground. _'I got my wish. I broke the biggest story this city has ever seen! I'll be on talk shows. I'll write my own memoirs. I'll get an Emmy, I'll move to Gotham Park West. I can quite the Harold and host my own investigative series for a major network!'_

Arkham was falling around her, Harleen had vanished into the wind and Vicki Vale was on top of the world.

~ Wayne Manor, as always, was immune to the anarchy of Gotham. It stood proud and fearless in its' country like setting. Unbothered by the world outside.

"Miss Kyle, I've already prepared your room for you." Alfred said to Selina as soon as she and Bruce entered the foyer.

She looked to Bruce curiously, but he didn't spare her a glance. His face had a dark shadow over it of anger, mixed with worry.  
"I'll come and get you when tea is ready." Alfred reminded her.

"Whatever." she said in a whisper and left them.

"Alfred, why didn't you tell me Mayor James reopened Arkham?" Bruce barked at his old friend once Selina had vanished up the stairs. The old house creaking with every step she took. Bruce's private jet had landed in Gotham just an hour ago, and the traffic around Arkham Island was so intense, they couldn't even drive by it on the way home.  
"You were attending to Miss. Kyle." Alfred said defensively. "You were out of the country."

"I would have come back." Bruce snapped.

"I didn't expect this would happen, Master Bruce." Alfred admitted. "But I wouldn't have wanted you to come back."

Bruce glared at him. Alfred shrugged.

"You seemed very content with Miss. Kyle. I didn't want to take that away from you." he said.

"Well, now we have a hell of a mess." Bruce nodded to the news on TV. Vicki Vale was being freed from a third story window by the city's handsomest firefighter. The two of them smiling for the camera and looking ready for a perfect romantic kiss.

"Not all the inmates are accounted for, I assume." Bruce said darkly.  
"There are rumors." Alfred admitted. "It seems that about two hundred or more got out on a ferry when the fire broke out."

Bruce let out a sigh.  
"Do we know who yet? How dangerous?"

Alfred shook his head.

"Alfred, Get my blue suit please." Bruce said calmly. "I have a speech to give."

~ Arkham Asylum was still smoldering. The remaining rioting inmates were contained and Wayne Enterprises had set up a podium in front of the gothic style ruins of Arkham Asylum.

Vicki Vale hadn't even gone to the hospital, let alone home. She had a story to cover and Bruce Wayne giving a speech before the world press was big news. A perfect ending to the Arkham disaster.

Looking at the man now, she could see why it was so easy to fall of a guy like him. It wasn't the money or the beautiful manor house in the country. Bruce Wayne had a certain way about him that was magnetic. He looked especially handsome in a finely cut blue suit. He looked almost presidential at the podium.  
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for coming. My name, if you don't already know, is Bruce Wayne. I'm the majority share holder of Wayne Enterprises, who owns the deed to Arkham Asylum. The reopening of the Asylum was done with permission of my company, but without full disclosure from the Mayor's office. Miss. Vale's exposure of the horrors of Arkham were not known by me or my staff until the riot became world news."

Vicki looked around at her fellow journalist. All the big names were here. She spotted a young woman with curly hair and her heart almost stopped.

That pretty actress girl was there. Watching Bruce speak. She was dressed in a worn black leather jacket and faded jeans, but it was defiantly her. Some other reporters recognized her as well and snapped her picture. Soon enough, her biker chic look would be the next hot trend in Gotham.

Vicki tried to control her anger and looked back at Bruce. He was telling the story of his grandmother's triumph in shutting down Arkham and his mother's wish to help the mentally ill.  
"That is why Wayne enterprises will take the initiative. Starting this very day, we will tear down Arkham Asylum brick by brick and build in its' place a rehabilitation center for those in desperate need of mental and emotional care. We will bring mental illness out of the dark ages and into the light with new age treatments and health services. We will treat all types of mental health issues from addiction, to schizophrenia." he promised.

A wave of applause stirred up the crowd.

"Wayne Enterprises will not be under the thumb of Mayor James in this matter. We will not contract with his administration, and this is the day I am asking the city of Gotham to recall our corrupt Mayor who allowed this to happen to innocent lives."

The applause turned into cheers. Vicki looked from Wayne to his actress girlfriend. Her pretty face, unblemished by smoke from the riot was beaming at him.

Vicki was the first to shout out a question when the cheers died away.  
"Does that mean you'll be making a bid for mayor, Mr. Wayne?" she shouted in the eerie stillness of Arkham's ruin.

Bruce looked a little embarrassed.  
"No, Miss. Vale." he said. His voice faltering slightly. "I think there are better men out there than me. We will find the right mayor for Gotham."

~ Alfred drove Selina and Bruce home from the press conference. She had been proud of him. They way he stood up in front of all the cameras like that. She had forgotten how nice he looked in a suit. She seemed to have forgotten so much. The city streets, the lights, the way the river stank.

"I forgot." she said dreamily and looked out the window at the people walking.

"Well done, Master Bruce." Alfred said. "Although you running for Mayor of the city isn't a bad idea."

"You know I have better things to do, Alfred." Bruce joked.  
"Will Miss. Kyle be staying with us for a while?" Alfred asked a little louder.

Selina looked to Bruce for the answer.

"I hope so." Bruce said with a smile.

Selina grinned back at him.

"It was a very nice speech." she told him after Alfred made a grumbling remark about making duck in orange sauce for dinner.

"Thank you." Bruce sighed. "I may not be home in time for dinner though."

"Why?"

"This whole Arkham mess. It will keep me working a lot of hours." he explained.

She felt the cab of the luxury car grow uncomfortably silent. Bruce refused to look at her.

"Oh." she said at last.

"I'm sorry, Selina." he said quickly. "Alfred will make sure you get your medication. We've already had a pharmacy fill it here in the city."

"My medication." Selina repeated.

~ Lucius Fox replayed Wayne's speech on his laptop. He was pleased his friend had come off so well to the world press. He knew Bruce was in his office before looking up from the computer screen.  
"I love the blue on you. Make you look very… decisive, Mr. Wayne." Fox teased.

"You'll be happy to know your treatment for Miss. Kyle works." Bruce said in a cranky voice once he had shut the door behind him.  
"That's the best news I've heard all day." Fox said.  
"The bad news." Bruce said.

"The bad news is that the GCPD thinks that no less than two hundred inmates escaped from Arkham during the rioting. Some of them cold blooded murders. One of them is Ivy Pepper." Fox said.

Bruce let out a long sigh.

"Looks like you'll be busy for a while trying to round them up." Fox said. "I've already started on profiles for each of them."

"What about Crane?" Bruce asked.  
"It seems he was released from Arkham a few days ago by a private party. The name on the form is a fake and Arkham's records are such a mess right now, we may never know where he went." Fox told him.

"Great." Bruce muttered.  
"May I ask you something, Mr. Wayne?" Fox said gently.  
Bruce nodded.

"Why are you reopening Arkham? It's been done and it's failed." he asked.

"Because someone I loved was sick. She needed help. I had the power to get her the best help in the world and she got better." Bruce explained. "I'd hate to think of Selina in Arkham Asylum. No one should have to go through that."

"It's going to be a large project." Fox said.  
"It's going to be a large cover." Bruce corrected. "Building and development will all be run through R&D. Help to defer the cost so no one will be suspicious of all your projects."

"What about the inmates who escaped?" Fox asked.  
"With Ivy on the run, Selina is in danger. I have to find her first." Bruce said.

~ Wayne Enterpises had already delivered bulldozers to the island and had to wait till the GCPD finished their investigation. Gordon was riffling through papers in Doctor Rosenbaum's office. Most of it was burned from the fire.  
"Gordon, what are we doing here?" Bullock asked. "Bushinsky probably was killed in the riot. Forensics is out looking for bodies as we speak."

Gordon ignored him and poured over the files in Rosenbaum's drawers. He finally laid his hands on the elusive personal file.

"Harleen Quinzel. An intern who lives in Gotham." Gordon said as if holding up a medal. "According the video Vicki Vale shot, she released the first prisoner. We have to find her."

"We will, let's just get out of here." Bullock said. "This place gives me the creeps."

Gordon pulled free another file.  
"Bushnisky." he said happily. He flipped through the pages and saw there was almost nothing there.  
"Rosenbaum didn't care who she hired." Bullock said with a shrug.  
"She cared enough to do a staff picture." Gordon said and held up an old fashioned Polaroid picture.

Bullock squinted at the picture.  
"Hey, wait a second." he said. "Isn't that the guy who did all those lobotomies here a while back?"

"Gruber." Gordon said angrily. "Jack Gruber was here. He was warden of this place and did God only knows what to the inmates."

 **~ END ~**


End file.
